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By Author: Mark Morris
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When you are out shopping for ERP solutions, you’ll hear a lot of mumbo-jumbo; terms that would spin your head around and names that’ll invoke different ideas in your mind like the well-known ERP suite, Third Wave. It’s an intimidating experience, just like looking for your life-partner in a marriage arrangement. And, if you’re wondering why we drew that comparison –

1. First time’s the charm: As the phrase goes – ‘Love at first sight’. Well, this is close enough because if you get it right the first time, you don’t have to look any further. It boosts your sales, your operations, and amps up the overall organisational efficiency. On the downside, a bad first experience means that you’ll end up with bad taste and bad memories, making you a bit sceptical about buying into that piece of technology.

2. Commitments: Just like it is when you’re marrying your life-partner, there is a strong sense of commitment about who and what you choose to invest your energy, time and efforts on. So, there’s always that voice in the back of your head that’s priming you to be sure if “this is really the ...
... one for me.” It’s actually a more sensitive matter because a quarter invested in something that’s not right, or even not harnessing it properly, can set you back by revenue figures and time. It’s quite a lot about morale and mindset.

3. Preferences: Everyone has preferences, and the way they like things to be. There are qualities they seek in their life-partner like flexibility, acceptance, and empathy, to name a few. When it comes to ERP solutions, you look for features that nail your requirements to the wall – price point, market reputation, after-sales support, flexibility, etcetera. When you know what you are looking for, it’s easier to eliminate what doesn’t meet your needs and choose the best fit for yourself.

Now, here’s what you should keep in mind when you’re out looking for your life-partner ERP solution:
1. Take advice from associates/contacts who’ve made these investments before, and have done so successfully. Your first-degree connections are more reliable when it comes to reviews, and knowing them and their judgement helps.

2. List down everything that you are looking for and be specific. It’s going to help in rounding up the contenders that actually offer what you are looking for. Plus, when you talk specifics, people know that you mean business.

3. Be open to multiple opinions, especially when they are coming from people who sell these products. Compare the words of wisdom coming from different sources, and the inputs with multiple intersections will guide you to the right product. For example, if many people tell you that product ‘X’ isn’t so good and ‘Y’ is the dark horse of the category, there are more chances of that being correct.

4. Be creative and help the vendor in helping you craft the solution according to your needs. Don’t settle for things that don’t convince you, and make sure that it’s done so as to address every single need your organisation has.

At the end of the day, your satisfaction matters a great deal. So, the money that you’re shelling out should, in turn, buy you the peace of mind that the very many ERP solutions promise. Keep looking until you find the one, and your (and your organisation’s) life will never be the same. Happy shopping!

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